Page 16-Tuesday, July 11, 1978-The Michigan Daily THE SPORTING VIEWS Tigers still sad . . . . . ... cuz coaching is bad By GARY KICINSKI O HERE IT IS, the All-Star break, and those danged Tigers aren't look- ing much better, standing-wise, than they have at any of the last three All-Star breaks. Sure, they're playing at an even .500 clip, but not even Manager Ralph Houk would deny that the season has been somewhat of a disappointment thus far. This was to have been the year when the Tigers started to move toward and above respectability. With a pair of hot-shot rookies at the keystone positions and plenty of promising young players in the outfield and on the mound, the Tigers were predicted to move as high as third in the standings. But as yet the Tigers have shown little potential to become a third-place club, despite the fact that many players, on the surface, are having fine seasons at the plate. How can a team that's second in the league in hitting find itself in fifth place in its division, you ask? it's simple - the young Tigers are simply inadequate when it comes to executing baseball's fundamentals. Some people say, well, they're young, and they're going to make mistakes. But time and again these mistakes keep appearing, giving one the impression that no one is working with the players to correct the mistakes. That's why the biggest reason the Tigers are in fifth place is because of poor coaching. I used to be one of Ralph Houk's staunchest supporters, but the more I see of the '78 Tigers the less I want to see of the '78 Tigers. Hits are coming, but ... The Tigers have a collection of fine hitters, and they always get their nine or ten hits a game. That's why they're second in the league in hitting. The reason they're in fifth place is that they can't execute the sacrifice, they can't run the bases, and they have a difficult time getting anyone other than Rusty Staub and Jason Thompson to produce runs, Take Ron LeFlore, for example. LeFlore leads the league in runs and has 31 stolen bases, but still could be a much better player than he is with the proper coaching. The Tigers realized last summer that LeFlore could become an even greater asset to the club if he could be taught how to bunt properly. So the Tigers supposedly made that a top priority this spring. But LeFlore still is not even a threat to bunt. In fact, save for Steve Kemp and Lou Whitaker, none of the Tigers seem to be able to execute this simple task that most of the other major league teams handle with no problem. On the bases, LeFlore and Whitaker are getting by with raw speed. Neither one really knows how to take a leadoff or get a jump on the pitcher, as is especially evidenced by LeFlore's tendency to get picked off. The current Tiger coaching staff (Gates Brown, Dick Tracewski, et al.), probably has a career stolen base total of less than LeFlore's current amount. Why don't they bring in somebody who can show the club how to bunt, how to steal, and how not to get trapped between bases? LeFlore could be better While they're at it, why not get someone to show LeFlore the proper way to swing the bat? The Tigers seem to be afraid to mess with LeFlore's unor- thodox, yet successful, batting style. Yet who knows what he could hit if the speedster knew how to swing?- It seems as if all of LeFlore's hits are bouncers off the handle and through the infield, and more often, opposite-field line shots where LeFlore barely gets the bat on the ball. LeFlore's late-swing habit induced the Rangers to play a wrong-side shift against him in the just-concluded series, where shortstop Bert Campaneris played just barely to the left side of the second base bag. The coaching staff has been lax in ether Areas as well. Outfield throws have gone to the wrong bases. Pitchers have been left in too long. Players have been permitted to bat when a pinch-hitter was obviously needed. As an example, in two different Yankee games this year, rookie catcher Lance Parrish was allowed to bat in 'he ninth inning against Rich Gossage with the Tigers trailing. It doesn't , any baseball expert to know that Gossage is probably the toughest pitcht e in either league against righthan- ded batters, and Gossage made Parrish look pretty bad at the plate. Some will say that Houk and his comrades can only do the best they can with the talent they've got. But I believe the Tigers have plenty of talent that's not being exploited to its fullest potential. What's worse, the mistakes they've been making that can best be corrected while they're still young, have gone uncorrected. Blue, last AL hurler to win a Star game, now on bill for NL SAN DIEGO (AP) - Vida Blue, the winning pitcher the last time the American League won an All-Star game, will try to keep the Nationals in control of this mid-season rivalry tonight in the 49th annual game. Blue was the starting pitcher for the AL in the 1971 game at Detroit when the Americans won 6-4. They haven't won one since and they'll try to end a six- game losing streak with Blue on the mound for the Nationals. He switched "MY PITCHER'S a little tired," Mar- tin said of Guidry. "In his last couple of starts, he didn't have his usual velocity. When they go to their left-handed hit- ters, I'll go to my left-handed pitchers." Martin, meanwhile, had injury problems to consider. With three AL players - catcher Thurman Munson, outfielder Carl Yastrzemski and third baseman Graig Nettles - already withdrawn from the game because of injuries, shortstop Rick Burleson joined All-Star Lineups American League lB-Rod Carew, Minnesota 3B-George Brett, Kansas City LF-Jim Rice, Boston RF-Richie Zisk, Texas C-Carlton Fisk, Boston CF-Reggie Jackson, New York 2B-Don Money, Milwaukee SS-Fred Patek, Kansas City P-Jim Palmer, Baltimore leagues in a spring training trade from Oakland to San Francisco. NATIONAL League Manager Tom Lasorda announced his selection of Blue yesterday. He will face Baltimore's Jim Palmer, the starting and losing pitcher for the American League last year when the Nationals scored their sixth straight victory and 14th in the last 15 years, 7-5 at Yankee Stadium. "He's familiar with their batters but that's not the only reason I'm starting him," Lasorda said of Blue. "Right now, I think he's the best pitcher in the National League." AL Manager Billy Martin hopes Palmer, Baltimore's ace right-hander, does better than he did a year ago when he was belted for first-inning home runs by Joe Morgan and Greg Luzinski. Morgan and Luzinski are both back in the NL starting lineup. Martin's selection of Palmer as his starting pitcher raised some eyebrows. Left-hander Ron Guidry of the Yankees, who won his first 13 games this season, had been expected to start. National League 3B-Pete Rose, Cincinnati 2B-Joe Morgan, Cincinnati RF-George Foster, Cincinnati LF-Greg Luzinski, Philadelphia lB-Steve Garvet, Los Angeles C-Ted Simmons, St. Louis CF-Rick Monday, Los Angeles SS-Larry Bowa, Philadelphia P-Vida Blue, San Francisco the list of ailing players. With Burleson scratched from the AL roster, Martin named another Red Sox infielder, second baseman Jerry Remy, to the squad. Earlier AL injury replacements were outfielder Larry Hisle for Nettles, catcher Darrell Por- ter for Munson and outfielder Dwight Evans for Yastrzemski. The-National League had its own in- jury problems. Johnny Bench, elected starting catcher for the ninth straight .year, pulled himself out of the NL lineup because of continuing back problems. "He's wearing a corset," said Lasorda. "The best he could have done would be pinch hit." ATLANTA catcher Biff Pocoroba replaced Bench on the NL roster and Lasorda announced that Ted Simmons of St. Louis would be the starting cat- cher. First baseman Steve Garvey of the Dodgers suffered a 20-stitich cut in his chin Saturday night but played on Sun- day and will be in the starting lineup for the NL tonight. Feverish Reggie pulls out, Nettles fills -in SAN DIEGO (AP) - Outfielder fielder in tonight's 49th annual game Reggie Jackson of the New York against the National League. He missed Yankees pulled out of the All-Star yesterday's workout but telephoned Game late yesterday because of a high Manager Billy Martin at San Diego fever and will be replaced by teammate Stadium and told him he had a fever of Graig Nettles, who earlier had been between 102 and 102 degrees and was en scratched from the AL roster with an route to see his doctor. injured toe. Martin then replaced the Yankee Jackson was scheduled to be the slugger on the roster with Nettles, who American. League's starting center- was runner-up in the balloting at third.